1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to merchandise containers for transporting, storing and display merchandise, and particularly to tray containers which can be stacked together securely to withstand accidental external impact.
2. Background Art
Containers made of corrugated board or cardboard are commonly employed for transporting and for storage of merchandise. However, most containers are not suitable for displaying the merchandise at the sale or retail location, since the merchandise is not readily accessible from the container by customers for selecting the items to purchase. Accordingly, the merchandise, after transported to the sale or retail location, must be unpacked from the containers and be transferred to display shelves, stands, or show cases in order that customers may select the items to purchase. This procedure is time consuming and labor intensive to carry out.
Containers can be made in the form of trays which can be employed for the same purposes for storage and transport as well as for displaying the merchandise readily at the retail destination so as to reduce the amount of time required for handling and re-arranging of the merchandise at the retail location. A plurality of trays can be stacked in a transporting vehicle during transport or in the warehouse during storage in order to utilize the available space efficiently. Thus, special construction must be provided in the tray to ensure that a plurality of it can be securely stacked together and withstand accidental external impact thereto. Some trays are provided with upstanding tabs at the outer corners of the top of the tray which are aligned with bottom slots formed at the bottom panel of the tray, so that a plurality of trays can be stacked together securely with the upstanding tabs of the bottom tray engaging with the aligned bottom slots of the tray at the top. Also, right-angled corners may be formed at the outer corners of the side panels of the tray so that trays can be stacked together with the upstanding right-angled corners of the tray at the bottom engaging with lower corner recesses formed in the bottom portion of the side panel of the tray at the top for holding the trays together.
In known tray containers, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,094 issued on Jul. 19, 1994 to Noel J. Mertz, four right-angled upstanding corners which are small in dimensions, short in height, and complex and yet unreliable in construction are provided at the upper edge of an outer cover panel of the side panels of the tray with the securement provided at the outer surface of the side panels. When two tray are stacked together, the upstanding right-angled upstanding corners of the tray at the bottom engage with the bottom corner recesses of the outer cover panels of the tray at the top to retain the trays stacked together. However, due to the small dimensions and the unprotected upstanding right-angled corners, the upstanding right-angled corners are readily deformed or mutilated during stacking of the trays or they are destroyed by impact during moving of the stack in handling or in transportation. Furthermore, the upstanding right-angled corners are an extension portion of the upper edge of the outer cover panels, and the cover panels are secured to the outer surface of the side walls of the tray with tabs inserting into slots formed in the outer surface of the side walls of the tray. When the stack of the trays is subject to accidental lateral impact it would cause the merchandise in the tray to shift due to the inherent inertia force. The force due to the shifting weight of the merchandise contained therein as well as from the external impact with other objects particularly during handling and transportation, the force would invariably exert a lateral pushing force at the right-angled corners. As the right-angled corners are part of the extensions folded over the side walls, the pushing force would cause the securement tabs of the covering panels to disengage from the side walls of the tray, thus resulting in the loss of securement between the stacked trays. Moreover, the folded extension portions cover over the outer surface of the side walls of the tray such that the side walls may not be provided with graphic matters for merchandising purposes.